Private Lessons...

The value of private lessons…

I started training Kenpo in 1986 while in high school. Like everyone, I attended a standard class setting with other students. I learned the customs and traditions that are present and so important in the development of any martial artist and the proliferation of the art. I started at the back like most white belts and worked my way up the front of the class as I attained the various ranks and trained consistently like everyone else. It wasn’t until after college and moving away that in 1994 I met an instructor who showed me the value of private lessons.

At that time I started training with James Smith in Houston and attended one training session during the week and had a weekly private session on the weekends. It was a new experience for me. Most of the time we’d spar, discuss sparring theory, look at various training methods outside the realm of what at the time I would have defined as standard Kenpo training. We were student and instructor and through that training experience my confidence grew.

Later as I began to explore other areas of martial training under different instructors and I found all of my sessions to be private lessons. Whenever certain instructors would come to Texas I would make a special point to go to their seminars and during the down time I would pay for a private lesson. If I brought instructors in for seminars the goal was to get a private lesson in their area of expertise. My standard sessions with Mr. Duffy by virtue of the distance traveled and scheduling dictated that I would train privately on the weekends with him. My training with Mr. Braughton was completely private training with he and his wife, unless he asked that I attend a session with the group. At the end of the day I went into those sessions prepared with questions from the previous session. I worked on what we covered and came to each session with an open mind and spirit of receiving. Throughout the years of training, supplemental private lessons and consistent self-regimented practice sessions have helped me get closer my personal goals in training.

When you hear of people speak of their time with Mr. Parker the sessions that are spoken of in the highest regard are those that involved private training….